Will Sri Lanka qualify?

THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed cricket's return to the Olympics after 128 years when it makes its appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

- BY SA'ADI THAWFEEQ

Participating teams will be able to field squads of up to 15 players after the IOC allocated quotas of 90 athletes per gender for the event. The matches will take place at Fairgrounds in Pomona, Southern California.

Where the glitch lies for Sri Lanka is that the matches will be played in the T20I format for both men’s and women’s and only six teams will compete from each gender.

Thus, Sri Lanka’s participation in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics remains uncertain.

If only the top six teams in the ICC T20I rankings are taken as a guideline for qualification Sri Lanka will not qualify for both men’s and women’s tournaments.

Currently, Sri Lanka’s men’s team is ranked 8th and Sri Lanka women’s team is ranked 7th.